Hey everyone!
We hope you are all doing well and as always we appreciate all of your support! At this point, life in Guatemala has become semi routine. We have learned how to shop for fruit and vegetables in the market, where to get clean meat that agrees with our gringo stomachs, and how to take a wide variety of public transportation (Including the chicken buses!).
Update on Isabel:
A few weeks ago, Isabel finished her TEFL program with Maximo Nivel and she is now officially certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language! If you recall, she was going through the interview process to work with Maximo and she was unofficially offered a position. She had just one more official interview to go through, but God had another idea. The weekend after she finished the TEFL program, she had time to relax and reflect after being incredibly busy. It was then that she felt God telling her that she had a different purpose for being here, and that teaching English was not the call He gave her. As a result, we had a quick scramble of a conversation with a friend prior to her interview, where we decided that she would become a volunteer at an orphanage nearby called “House of Destiny”.
At this point, she cancelled her interview with Maximo and explained her position at the orphanage, which they were super excited about because they are awesome people! She now spends about 20 hours each week working with the now 10 children! Right when she started, the house received 3 new baby boys, which she has been working with a lot. You will be seeing pictures of these three a lot, their names are David, Josue and Emillio. Emillio being less than 4 weeks old!
Update on Nick:
I have been continuing with my Website Development work, and have met multiple people that I have started working with. There is a local ministry here that runs a coffee shop called La Vid. Their whole mission is support other local ministries in Antigua. As a result, all of the profit from the shop gets donated to other local ministries. It just so happens that I love good coffee, and so do they, so we have become friends and I do most of my work while drinking their delicious coffee! But they are more important to my ministry than just the coffee that they sustain me with.
Living in Antigua for the past 2 months has shown me that very few ministries here have their own websites, and if they do, they are looking for help in maintaining and updating them. Many places here just use Facebook pages to manage their ministry, which is fantastic, however the flexibility of a custom website is extremely beneficial. As a result, God has given me the desire to serve the local ministries here in Guatemala by either building them a new website, or updating and managing their existing one – as free labor. There are more ministries than I can count here in Antigua alone, but for now I am starting with the House of Destiny website, and will soon transition to working with La Vid on their new website.
In addition, I have been volunteering once or twice a week at House of Destiny myself, just to give them an extra hand where needed. For those who do not know, the house parents of House of Destiny are Jay and Valarie. Jay was diagnosed with cancer a while back, and has to fly back to the U.S. every 3 weeks to receive treatment. Valarie is a legit super woman, as she takes care of all the legal documents involved with a Guatemala orphanage while still caring for their household even when Jay is stateside. Thankfully they have many volunteers and staff members that help keep everything running smoothly, but prayers for Jay and Valarie as they live out the daily stress.
Conclusion: God is Good.
God has blessed Isabel and I both tremendously. Whether that is through the clients we have received that bring financial support, or through all of your prayers! We are greatly appreciative and can’t wait to see how the next few months pan out.
